Garcia’s Pre-Udinese Press Conference

Rudi Garcia held his weekly press conference as his team meets Udinese tomorrow at the Stadio Olimpico.

How important is the return of Totti?
“Winning is always our goal, that doesn’t change now, so we strive to return to winning. This time we will play in Olimpico that is back to normal, this is good news. In the attack, I have more than one option with the return of Francesco, and that is good news for us, we had many injured players and when one returns who is the captain then it is always good news.”

Roma was affected by injuries?
“In order to have a great season, you must not have many injuries. I the injuries we had didn’t have much to do with the muscles, and that means that the work we do is good on the physical plane, but as for trauma, there isn’t anything we can do, we hope they (injuries) are over.”

After 10 victories in a row, did you expect to be 14 points behind Juventus?
“I did not think anything after the 10th victory, this is the ranking now. We must go forward, especially since we play at home on Monday and because the team has desire and a positive attitude. There are victories and defeats that are worrying that gave confidence to Napoli after the match. We must continue to play well, we’ll win by playing well.”
The mood has changed?
“No, you can not win all 38 games. I’m happy with the way of Roma, it is not the time to make statements or to make projections. The perspective that we have is focused on Monday, our concentration only on this match. We have to play well and score at least more than one goal to win.”

The False 9 is a fixed part of your tactics?
“I am one who works with the squad I have available. In Lille, we won the league and cup with a striker in the area, and that was Sow. Here, we are fortunate to have the captain, who is one who likes to drop back into the midfielder and play with the others. You have to adapt, we do not play the same way with Totti as we play with Destro or with Borriello. The intelligence of the team must be high, we can’t play the same way with Francesco as we do with Gervinho.”

How do you replace Strootman?
“What matters is to be close to him, we all are here for him. There is the opportunity to show Kevin how important he is and what matters above all is that on Tuesday he’ll have his surgery and look to return as soon as possible, but he’ll start that on Wednesday when he will begin to return to work. We will do well for him, he deserves to play in the Champions League and because of bad luck he was unfortunate, but we’ll fight for this (Champions League qualification).”

Your renewal?
“I think now we need to be focused on the current season. This is not the time to talk about this, we will see the end of the season. It’s normal that you speak of the market, but we are in March and it will be discussed at the end of the season in individual cases. I do not want anyone focused on anything off the field.”